Recommended Bow for Beginner?

Well I thought I'd update my old thread instead of starting a new one, but after about 10 months I finally had enough $$ to buy the perfect bow aka the Mathews Z7 Extreme.











Also thought I would throw in my set up. I just purchased a new ground blind this weekend and set it up in my backyard to practice shooting out of.





This is the view from inside the blind




And this is the view from behind. As you can see it's hard to see through the back window when the mesh is still up (The mesh was taken down in the front of the blind so I could shoot out of it.)




Here is my little homemade target that's nothing fancy at all. Just a couple pieces of plywood, some hinges, and I drilled two holes to run straps through so I could raise my shooting bag to the height of a deer's vitals. Not to mention it's save 1 or 2 arrows from hitting the house!! I placed the hinges on there so I can fold it up and store it, or throw it in the back of the Tacoma and take it to shoot somewhere else if I wanted too.









So there she is, can't wait to take her out in 2 weeks when deer season opens here in Kansas!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This will be my first year archery hunting and I've always wanted to for the longest time. Feel free to ask any questions, not sure I'll be able to answer em but I'll atleast point ya in the right direction.

 

Nice dude, looks good. How much was the ground blind?

 

It's normally 150.00 but I got it on sale at Gander Mountain for 100.00. Looking at Gander Mountain's website you guys don't have any in Montana unfortunately. I'm sure if you looked hard enough you'd be able to find them on sale online somewhere.

Here's the link to the one I have. As you can see the reviews on it are pretty good. And after putting it up and taking it down a few times I would say it's a good buy. This thing will literally be up and ready to go in 5 minutes. Probably even less than that once you get a routine down. And tonight I had the blind down and folded up within 30 seconds easily. It's a great blind for the price.

http://www.gandermountain.com/modperl/product/details.cgi?i=403576&pdesc=Primos_Ground_Max_Eclipse_Ground_Blind&aID=503AL1&merchID=4006

 

Well I figured while I had the camera up and running I'd take a pic of my shooting session tonight

 

I went and got a Fred Bear bow. Its sweet, totally worth the price too. Got it loaded with the sights and everything already on it. I got mine new and than found a killer deal on a used mathews bow for my wife.

 

Just wanted to show the final product of all the work of researching, practicing, and then finally harvesting a deer. Shot this Kansas 9 pointer today (11-12-11) and this is the most satisfying of all the bucks I've shot. Archery is definitely a challenge but makes a clean successful kill all the more rewarding. If you are even thinking about getting into bow hunting I highly recommend it!!

 

shoot that out of a ground blind? nice first deer with a bow.

 

very nice. pretty damn good first archery buck. I remember my first bow kill like it was yesterday. one of the best feelings after putting in two seasons of no success. of course it was just an old doe but it is probably my most memorable deer

 

I remember my 1st archery deer too. It was a little 4 point that busted me out trying to draw on a big 10. He didn't run off so I took him down. Then I got into a yellow jacket nest trying to get him out! Funny looking back now but it sucked that day!

 

congrats man. when i first looked at this thread i was just gonna jump in a give my 2 cents. which is for a good begginners bow, mid line, set up, the bowtech assassin is the best for the money. their destroyer 350 is the most flatest fastest smoothest bow i have touched. as i see you went with the z7 extreme, u bought the top of the line, yet so easy to shoot and use. the 7 3/8 brace makes it very forgiving. smooth and fast.

most important thing about archery, is people will back the company they shoot till they die. i shoot bowtech, but would love to have the money for a matthews. the thing that matters is the bow fits you, comfartably, and you can shoot it.

only thing im going to throw at you, based on personal expience, i shot a whisker biscut forever. finally moved to a drop away, the rip cord red, and boy can you tell a difference.

what arrows and broadheads you using?

found the answer for teh arrows, gold tip. boradheads?

 

I actually went to a local pro shop upon the recommendation of Canada (thanks a million bud!!) and shot every stinking bow they had. It took me two days to shoot them all....I shot all the mathews, bowtech's, PSE's, Hoyts, Bear, Aspire, etc....And I came into it with no alliance what so ever to any brand and just shot bows. In all honesty they all shot VERY similar. Sometimes it was hard to tell the difference between 10 different bows.

For my final two bows I had it boiled down to the Mathews Z7 Extreme and the Bowtech Assassin like you mentioned above. I think I shot atleast 100 arrows through each of them and the Mathews just barley edged out the Bowtech. To me the Mathews just felt more comfortable like you mentioned, which is all that really matters. The draw was a little bit smoother to me and the back wall was a little more forgiving, which I liked as a beginner. All I can say is that I'll be using this bow for a long time. Absolutely love it!!

I also shot the 350 destroyer and liked it, but it seemed a tad aggressive to me....but it is definitely a quality bow for sure.


When I was deciding on a rest the local pro guy recommended a whisker biscuit which gave me a little more accuracy with closer targets, but does take a little speed of the arrow for the 35+ yard shots. Which makes sense for now, but I'll defiantly move to a drop away rest as I become more skilled and get some more practice in. If you don't mind I'd love to see a pic of it on your bow if you have one. If you don't mind me asking how much was it?

The broadheads I'm using are the G5 carbon steel like the ones below. Great broadhead that made a clean kill and left a sizable entry and exit wound. The nice thing about these is that they can be sharpened so no need to replace blades or throwing them away because they are dull.


And I also love the carbon gold tip arrows. Sturdy little buggers!!

Any other questions feel free to ask!!

 

I actually shot it out of a treestand. I think I'm going to have to use the blind for turkey hunting though. Thanks for all your help in this thread Canada!!

 

It's all good, I wouldn't have been ashamed of taking a doe either. It's all about the shot placement when it comes to archery hunting if you ask me. That's were the bragging rights come in. And in all honesty I just got lucky that 9 point wandered into my sights.

 

Dang that would suck!! Glad I didn't find a yellow jacket nest my first archery hunt. But that makes for one good story

 

so first thing is first. im coming to kansas. ca deer hunting SUCKS.

but now for my bow. i shot a assassin, by bowtech. at the time the local proshop, Avid Bowhunter in petaluma, only carried a few lines of bows as he had just opened. I actually am pretty good friends with the guy. met him at our hunting club one day, and now hunt with him and his brother and his buddies more then i hunt with my dad and all his friends. actually just got home from pig hunting this last weekend.

so, that being said, as you probably know the assassin comes with a complete set up, and bowtech does not sell the bow stripped. The only reason i went with this bow is his other two lines at the time, pse and elite, i didnt want an pse, and elite, (smoothest bow ever) were too expensive. my parents bought me the bow for my 21st b day, finally got rid of my pse fireflite 33. which i had used since i was like 15. little outdated.

so i talked to teh owner, and struck a deal that he would give me the bow for the marked price, at the time i think it was 699 cuz they had just came out, and got him to take the quiver, rest, and sight off, in exchange for my choice of sight and quiver, since i already had a rest. and didnt like the quiver or 4 pin apex sight it came with.

So i went with the octane (made by bowtech) two piece, with the magnetic hood. simply the most amazing design since i shoot G5 t3 broadheads. no hassel with getting the blades stuck in the foam and the magnet it strong as hell.

for teh sight i wanted a 7 pin spot hogg (or 5, he was hooking me up pretty much) but at the time he iddnt have a left handed one. so i went with the five pin truglo micro adjust one. it gets the job done.

i had a whisker biscut, but recently moved to the rip cord red, which im in love with. I shoot Easton ST Epics, which if you know your arrows, are there #3 arrow. The full metal jacket and axis are the two above them. I use the G5 t3's, which do so much damage i say they are better then the rage for the expandable category. also use burt coyote lumenoks, they work like a charm and are easier to use then most out there. ive tried the easton tracers, and fuck that magnet activation crap.

i used to use the montecs just like u, killed a lot of pigs with them. they are great. i would however look into there new strikers. virtually the same as the montec, but sharper and have replaceable blades. for me, we fling a lot of arrows at pigs and shit, so lost and broken arrows happen almost every hunt, with lost of damage to teh broadhead, somettimes not being able to be fixed. but the striker allows you to just replace a blade if u damage one.

also the guy i hunt with, shots the z7 and the elite. He shots a lot, competition, hunting, 3d, u name it. he hit a beer can on top of a 3d deer at 80 yards 4 times in a row. he shoots GT out of his elite, and FMJ eastons out of his z7, says the z7 just handles those fmj's like bread and butter.

everything here is just food for thought, if your shooting well, stick with it, but if you ever want to change at least u have some ideas.

 

Good looking bow man!! I think we have the same sight as well. Mine is a tru-glo 5 pin sight with the micrometers for wind and elevation. I also have an apex quiver with the magnet housing that lets you detach the quiver itself if you don't want it on your bow. Sounds pretty similar to what you have. I'll only be using my broadheads for deer so I'm not overly concerned with them breaking blades and all that stuff (which will happen at some point).

I'm thinking about doing some fall turkey hunting with my bow. I know they have those crazy broadheads that cut their head clean off, but don't know the first thing about them. Anyone have any experience with those? I believe the guillotine is a popular one correct?

 

close to the same. just mine doesnt quick detach all too well as there is two pieces. but the magnet housing the broadheads sit in is Money, didnt know apex came out with them...
for the broadheads, tree stand and deer, your fine. shoot what works, and your already know it works for you.

as for turkey, the montecs will work fine as well. i again use teh t3's, and this is what i started using them on. they destroy birds, and i have seen the guailatine thing used. head clean off, from the guy that owns the shop. they work, but at a further range, im sure its not accurate as you would like.

the good thing about the t3s, is they shoot exactly like a field point. where as the montecs, or any fixed blade for that matter is going to be a little different. so tweaking the sight from broadheads to field points would be needed. but i say, since your all set up and shooting well, keep it, try it on turkey, and see how it does. it honeslty doesnt matter what you use, as long and you hit the right spot.